In which Mr. Murphy and I do a dance, and I invent a new game
It all started innocently enough. My wife noticed me staring into space with a distant look in my eye and asked what I was doing.
“Well, I’m trying to come up with a topic for the next blog,” I said.
She replied, “Why don’t you go for something that is just pure fun?”
I looked out at the growing twilight. January in upstate New York and still no snow on the ground . . . hmmm . . . I know: a BB gun, some BBs and some tin cans! Tomorrow I’ll go outside and see how much fun it is to bounce some cans around the yard. With steel BBs, I don’t have to be concerned about capturing lead pellets. I bet it will be a blast!
At this point, if I had been listening carefully, I could have heard Mr. Murphy sniggering in the background. Who’s Mr. Murphy? Why, the owner and originator of Murphy’s Law. Murphy’s Law was explained to me some years ago in a concise volume entitled The Official Explanation. Published by the Murphy Institute for the Codification of Human Behavior, it explains, in pithy aphorisms, why things so often turn out so badly.
Here’s what you need to know. Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will. Murphy’s Law 1st Corollary: Even if nothing can go wrong, it still will. Murphy’s Law 2nd Corollary: When it goes wrong, it will do so at the worst possible time and place. There are a lot of other corollaries, but those are the basics.
So by now I rather imagine you are ahead of me. Do you know what awaited me the following morning when I went out to knock some cans around with a BB gun? Of course you do. Snow, about an inch of it. Murphy clearly had me in his sights. Undeterred, I set up the cans and a margarine tub as you see them below.
I then shot at them with two different BB guns: a Daisy Model 25 Pump Gun and a Model 105 Buck. I chose those two BB guns because there is a substantial velocity difference between the two (the Model 25 launches BBs at around 350 fps and the Model 105 manages a more sedate 275 fps), and I wasn’t sure which one would work better to get good “action” out of the cans.
The cans (and margarine tub) ready to be "danced" around the yard.
The answer, it turns out, was . . . neither. Try as I might with either gun, I could not get the cans to dance merrily about the yard. In fact, it was a bit of a struggle to even knock them over, a task at which the Model 25 did better than the Model 105. Both guns punched holes in the margarine tub but it wouldn’t dance or bounce around at all.
The cans, resolutely refusing to dance.
Okay, I said to myself, what I need is a lighter, more responsive target . . . I need to go shopping! So I took myself to the local big box store and wandered the aisles with a wild gleam in my eye, looking for Things to Shoot. Ten minutes into the mission I found it: a mesh wire basket containing 48 foam practice golf balls. They were even brightly colored so they would show up against the snow. I bet these would dance when given the Daisy treatment! With a fiendish chuckle, I headed for the checkout line.
My purchase.
The gray haired gentleman at the register greeted me. “You’ve got the right idea,” he said.
“Whaddya mean?” I asked.
“Golf practice,” he said, “I can’t wait.”
Glancing furtively about, I said, “You know what I’m going to do with these? Shoot ‘em . . . with a BB gun.” “I’m a writer,” I added, as if that explained something.
He gave me a dubious look and rang up my bucket of balls. Still eying me somewhat suspiciously, he handed me my purchase. “Your targets, sir,” he said.
I raced home, tore open the package, and a thought occurred: I would spread some of the practice balls on the ground, lay the empty bucket on its side, and try to shoot the balls so that they would bounce into the bucket. What a great idea! I could call the resulting game “BB Gun Golf.”
Well, the theory might have been great, but the execution was not. No matter what the angle, hitting the practice golf balls with BBs did little more than drive the practice balls deep into the snow where they burrowed like groundhogs waiting for spring. I said several of the more interesting short words. Clearly Mr. Murphy was still hot on my trail.
Shooting the foam practice golf balls on the snow covered grass only drove them into hibernation.
Maybe my idea would work on snowy concrete front walk at El Rancho Elliott . . . and it did. The practice balls would indeed leap into the air when struck by a BB. I even managed to bounce one into the bucket.
On the snow-covered sidewalk, I managed to pop one of the balls into the bucket.
Even better, a couple of days later what little snow we had melted, and I found the balls were even more responsive when there was no snow to restrain them.
It worked even better without the snow.
So I give you, for your earnest and prayerful consideration: BB gun golf. Get yourself some practice golf balls, a bucket, and see if you can knock the balls into the bucket by shooting them with BBs. Make sure everyone involved wears eye protection because the BBs can bounce at crazy angles. For that same reason, you probably shouldn’t play next to your uncle’s newly restored vintage Ferrari.
Here's what you need for BB gun golf. Enjoy!
Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.
- Jock Elliott
FX Royale 200 Synthetic .25 caliber – Part II
The left side of the FX Royale 200 .25 caliber
To ready the FX Royale 200 Synthetic .25 caliber for shooting, attach the filling probe to your high pressure pump or SCUBA tank and charge the reservoir to 200 BAR.
Now it’s time to load the magazine. Begin by turning the transparent lid to the magazine counterclockwise until it stops. Put one pellet in the open slot on the rear (black) side of the magazine so that the tip of the pellet is pointing out of the hole. This locks the magazine spring in place.
Next, turn the magazine so that the transparent lid is facing you. Turn the lid clockwise one slot at a time and fill the slots with pellets with the tip of the pellets facing into the hole. When all the slots have been filled, slide the lid back into its starting position.
The left side of the receiver.
Pull the bolt lever all the way back and insert the magazine, black side toward the muzzle, into the breech from the right side. Helpful hint: make sure the scope mounts are high enough that no part of the scope interferes with the magazine sliding fully into place. If you are purchasing a FX Royale 200 Synthetic .25 caliber and scope from Airguns of Arizona, they can recommend the proper height scope rings.
Now you are ready to go. Push the bolt forward, flick off the safety, and squeeze the trigger. The first stage required only 11.1 ounces of pressure on the sample that I tested. At 1 lb. 5.3 oz., the shot went down range. This is an excellent trigger that is a pleasure to shoot.
NOTE: The section below has been corrected. I had the wrong shot string. JE
FX Royale 200 Synthetic .25 caliber launches 31.1 gr. H&N Barracuda pellets at average of 800fps, or 44.20 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle and will deliver 35 usable shots from a fill. Even with the shrouded barrel, there is a significant POP when the shot goes off, but it is not nearly as raucous as one would typically expect from a .25 caliber PCP generating this kind of power. This is clearly not the best choice for stealthy plinking in the back yard without disturbing the neighbors, but for a hunting gun it is just fine.
One other thing I notice while shooting the FX Royale 200 Synthetic .25 caliber is that this air rifle is generating enough power that you can actually start to feel some recoil when the shot goes off. Not some heavy-handed slam in the shoulder, but a gentle push that reminds you that Sir Isaac Newton was right: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. You don’t put .25 caliber pellets down range with the kind of power that this rifle generates without getting some push in the opposite direction.
Like all FX air rifles that I have tested, the FX Royale 200 Synthetic .25 caliber delivers the goods when it comes to accuracy. At 30 yards from a casual rest with JSB Jumbo pellets, I put 5 shots into a group that measured just .625 inch edge to edge. That works out to well under half an inch center to center.
The FX Royale 200 Synthetic .25 caliber is a powerful, handsome air rifle that does everything well. I think any air rifle hunter would be pleased to own one.
Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.
- Jock Elliott
FX Royale 200 Synthetic .25 caliber – Part I
in Airguns
as air rifle, Airguns, FX, pcp, review
The FX Royale 200 Synthetic .25 caliber is handsome and powerful.
FX airguns enjoy a well-deserved reputation for excellence and accuracy, and the FX Royale 200 Synthetic in .25 caliber is no exception. It is a big airgun – 45.5 inches from end to end – that weighs just 6.7 lbs. and delivers a tremendous wallop, nearly 44 foot-pounds at the muzzle.
The butt pad is adjustable vertically.
Starting at the extreme aft end of the .25 Royale, you’ll find a black rubber butt pad that is adjustable vertically. Just loosen a screw and slide the butt pad up or down to meet your need. The butt pad is attached to an ambidextrous matte black synthetic stock that has a raised comb, cheek piece on either side, and a pronounced thumb notch.
Here's the trigger, breech, and magazine.
Forward of the butt stock, the pistol grip is flared at the end and has ribbing on either side. Moving forward again, the matte black synthetic material of the stock forms a trigger guard that surrounds a black metal trigger. The trigger is adjustable for first stage length of pull, second stage weight of pull, and, if you have tinkered with the trigger adjustments, the safety catch adjustment. The manual warns that “Failure to adjust this screw (the safety catch adjustment) after altering the trigger can result in a non-functioning safety.”
Just ahead of the trigger guard is an allen head bolt that holds the receiver in the stock, and forward of that is a black and white air pressure gauge that is about 7/8 of an inch in diameter. Beyond that, the forestock is relatively unadorned, except for ribbing molded into the polymer on either side.
The air reservoir protrudes nearly a foot beyond the end of the forestock. At the end of air reservoir is a port into which a filling probe is inserted for charging the reservoir. This is the only thing about the .25 Royale that I didn’t like. I personally prefer that air reservoirs be equipped with male Foster fittings. In my experience, they work pretty well, providing a quick and secure connection for filling PCP airguns. I don’t understand why a special filling probe was required but then again I am not an airgun engineer, just an airgun shooter.
Above the reservoir is the fully shrouded barrel. The shroud stretches 25.5 inches from muzzle to where it meets the receiver, but the specifications say that the .25 caliber barrel itself, which is inside the shroud, measures 23.6 inches.
At the aft end of the shroud is the receiver, finished in shiny black with white lettering. On top of the receiver, forward and aft of the breech, are dovetails for mounting a scope. In the middle of the receiver is the breech, which is just barely deep enough to allow loading single pellets by hand and which allows the 11-shot self-indexing .25 caliber rotary magazine to be slid into place.
On the right hand side of the receiver, you’ll find the toggle-action bolt. You cock the action and ready it for the next shot by pulling it full back and then sliding it fully forward again. It’s smooth and easy. Just below the aft end of the cocking lever is the safety.
That’s all there is to the FX Royale 200 Synthetic in .25 caliber. It’s a handsome air rifle with a utilitarian and purposeful look about it. As a .25 caliber, it is most likely to be used as a hunting rifle, and I like that there is no wood to worry about scratching or damaging with moisture. This is a serious tool designed to withstand inclement conditions without serious concern.
Next time, we’ll take a look at how the FX Royale 200 Synthetic in .25 caliber shoots.
Til then, aim true and shoot straight.
- Jock Elliott
How Airguns of Arizona preps guns before you get them
I came upon the subject for this blog quite by accident, and it was all my fault. A while back I had been whining to Greg, my chief contact at Airguns of Arizona, about how winter was coming in big, bad upstate New York, and if the winter was anything like last year, there was [...]
Daystate Huntsman Classic XL – Part II
in Airguns
as air rifle, Daystate, pcp, review
To get the Daystate Huntsman Classic XL ready to shoot, remove the cap at the end of the air reservoir, attach a high pressure pump or SCUBA tank, and charge the reservoir up to 230 BAR maximum. To remove the 10-shot magazine from the breech, first apply the safety catch. Next, lift the bolt handle [...]
